I Inhale At Being Pro-Life

Before getting into the bacon and eggs (as opposed to meat and potatoes (maybe I just finished cooking myself homemade bacon and egg english muffin sandwiches)) of this blog post, I originally intended to have a really good intro. You know, to help introduce this idea that I particularly inhale (translation: suck) at being pro-life. In the first draft of this blog post, I began to talk about how f___ing cold it was at the March For Life in Washington D.C. back in January of this year.

Lo, and behold! That ended up being its own separate blog post. #BloggerProbz Read it here, for it is technically my intro to this blog post.

And I’ll awkwardly pause for you to re-read that because it is important to know. (the ellipses following all link to the intro)

…

…

…

Ok. Cool.

Like I said, I experienced different consolations for attending the March for Life. And again, the March for Life was actually just a particular event of a greater trip to Washington D.C., but the March itself was our primary purpose although we did get to experience other things. This year was pretty similar to my first time going back in 2013. This year I had a fantastic time, and going again really reminded me about the importance of continuing to defend the right to life of unborn human beings and behold the preciousness of life.

In recent years, I’ve grown to understand and appreciate the importance of responding to experiences. An example of that would be like my trip to Rio De Janeiro last year for World Youth Day. At the vigil the night before before the closing Mass, everyone was gathered at Copacabana Beach to hang out and pray with Pope Francis. There was a time when other members of the group that I went to Rio with and myself had to go use the facilities. The problem was, because there were a few million people squeezed into the Copacabana Beach and not really enough portable toilets, my group and I walked into a very crappy situation. You could smell the toilets from at least 50 feet away. The. worst. So at other points during that trip and whenever I returned back to the United States and attended large public events like air shows and festivals and had the need to go, I remembered that really crappy experience and respond with ecstatic joy knowing that over 9000+ other people didn’t use my chosen port-a-potty. I just need to remember to also respond with bringing hand sanitizer with me, too. x_x

Or another example would be trying a restaurant for the first time, liking it, then telling everyone about it. Because it was a good, enjoyable experience, I cannot help but tell the world that DeVivo’s is a good restaurant, even if their meatball sub received a bad review from one guy on Yelp.

Post by DeVivo Bros. Eatery.

I’m sure I can come up with other examples, but the basic idea is simple: experiencing different things evokes a response following such experiences. I can either respond or not respond with further action.

And that’s where I begin to inhale at being pro-life.

One does not simply experience the March for Life and not go do pro-life things afterwards. It’s a worthy, truthful cause because it does become a matter of life or death for those who cannot choose it for themselves. I mean, if you know any 10-week old human beings in the womb who can Chuck Norris their way out of getting sucked into a powerful vacuum that would suck their brains out or use knife hand blocks against scalpels attempting to cut them up during an abortion, I would love to meet them and blog about it. But otherwise, who will fight for them?

I would think that it should follow that after going to the March For Life, I should be more motivated to be more active in pro-life things. I mean, I distinctly remembered being rather motivated after going to the March. I remembered that I resolved to do more than what I was already doing. I remembered that this desire to help out in ways I could swelled all the more because of the March. I remembered that I’m not alone in this cause and it should be really easy for me to do stuff with the strength of others.

But no.

I have not done a good job with that at all this year, thus far.

Nevermind that I used to go pray in front of clinics and have actually saved a baby or two. Nevermind that I do, in fact, have some sidewalk counselor training and slight experience in the field. Nevermind that I have advocated and donated to a ministry that helps abortion clinic workers leave their clinics. Nevermind that I’ve helped make baby beds or raised money to help pregnant women in need. After the March for Life, I’ve not really continued to do any of these things. But after the March, I felt a fiery motivation to pick these up again and do more.

But I didn’t respond or follow through with resolutions after experiencing the March.

That’s why I inhale at being pro-life.

As I’m writing this, I’m trying to think of why I have so failed to respond. My only excuse is that I’ve been too busy since January. Sure, I’ve had some life transitions, and many other things going on, but that’s not a good enough of excuse (to me) to not continue what I’ve been doing for pro-life work. And then some.

To make it worse, the weekend after the March for Life in Washington D.C., I went to the Texas Rally for Life in Austin! I responded to the March with another march, AND I STILL DIDN’T RESPOND…

But just because I haven’t responded with doing actual stuff doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about what I can and should do. Ok, maybe once I did go do my usual pray in front an abortion clinic but Everyone’s Favorite Name Brand Women’s “Health” Clinic was closed for the day because no abortionist was available. Still prayed though. Even then, I didn’t resolve to keep up with my usual frequency of praying in front of abortion clinics. I’ve only gone once since coming back from both of those marches.

However, one idea kept haunting me since January. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. My idea, which I’ve been hanging on to since January, never came to any sort of fruition. I never responded fully to this idea. My idea was this: I should help out the local pro-life pregnancy center that’s within my city’s limits! They’re close by, maybe they could use volunteers for help, and maybe I can donate my time, money, or supplies. I like this idea because it’s something I haven’t done before. I mean, if this guy can bring pro-life women’s health to the front steps of abortion clinics, then maybe I can not do anything as intense as that but perhaps bring myself to the front steps of a pregnancy center and help out with whatever I can.

Cool idea!

Never did anything with it. Inhale. Inhale. Inhale.

Until…

Now. May, as in…month of.

One of my unofficial bros is a middle school youth minister for my parish. Nine months ago, he had a night teaching his middle schoolers about the importance of pro-life and why we are pro-life. Middle schoolers. That's awesome! And as a way to make the importance real, he had them all spiritually adopt babies and name them. I’ve done that before. My first one’s name is Melody and my second one is RJ, but that was a year or two ago. Well, fast forward 9 months, and we are here in the month of May. They decided to have an end of the year party to celebrate not just the end of the year, but to celebrate the birthdays of their spiritually adopted babies because it’s been 9 months. How fitting! There were Coke floats, pizza and cake.

An aspect to this end of the year party was for the middle schoolers to bring baby supplies. Oh and get this! These supplies are going to be donated to the pregnancy center that I’ve been constantly thinking about since January! So when I heard that my Middle School Youth Minister Bro was doing this for that pregnancy center, I simply couldn’t resist. I was like…”chyessss!!!! FINALLY! An easy, achievable way for me to contribute!” And contribute, I did. Yes, because I’m single-but-hopeful-for-kids-one-day-but-striving-to-not-be-jealous, I still find it awkward to be in the baby supply aisles at Super Target. What do I get? What brand should I get? Would they need more diapers or wipes? Shampoo? Heck, I’ll get all three…

Mission success, awkwardness not-withstanding. I threw in my stuff along with the other baby supplies, and between the other adult volunteers and students, we have a nice pile of supplies to donate to that pregnancy center.

No, I don’t feel totally satisfied with this simple act of buying some stuff. I feel called to do more. Or maybe re-called to do the stuff that I used to do on a more consistent basis. I don’t know, but I need it to make sense for where I’m at right now in life. That doesn't mean I'm compromising my position in any way regarding abortion. I'm just trying to figure out the best way for me to help out in a productive way. Maybe that means continuing to make awkward trips to Super Duper Awesome Target or Wal-Mart SuperDuperAwesomeCenter to pick up more supplies to donate.  Maybe that means praying in front of abortion clinics again with more added emphasis on me sidewalk counseling because that’s totally uncomfortable for me. Maybe that means that I try to reach out to abortion clinic workers and literally try to help them find other jobs in case they harbor a conflicted heart because of the way they are applying their profession. Maybe that means actually, physically volunteering at that pregnancy center. The options are many. How can I still respond to my experiencing the March for Life (and the Rally for Life)? It’s not good enough for me to just experience these rallying moments for the movement without responding in kind.

I don’t want to inhale at being pro-life. As a man, I want to be heroic at it because it’s so totally worth fighting for saving lives. Maybe not necessarily in the biggest ways, but at least in the trivial ways. It's not easy. It's going to inhale. Not everyone is necessarily a friend of pro-life work. It makes me uncomfortable. It's not going to be convenient. I'm already hated for doing this or even desiring to do this. And I'm okay with that. Challenge accepted.

Ponder this more, I will. Then action, will I do. I just need to…

-JD

So F(reez)ing Cold

It was so f____ing cold!!! A day or two before, Washington D.C. got something like six to eight inches of snow. We were effectively snowed in because A) public transportation was closed, and B) it would be strongly lacking common sense to walk around in that kind of snow in an unsafe neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

PS We stayed in a dangerous ‘hood of D.C--Anacostia 4 life!

Anyway, when it snowed, that’s when the wrath of Canada hit us like a cold-nami. The weather service said that the temperature would be in the single digits with negative wind chill. So f____ing cold! #NativeTexanProblems  The verbiage in the weather report pretty much said to...

…because of frostbite potential. Ew.

I remember looking up the weather on the day of the March. It was in the low 20’s and wind chill in the single digits or something. I had to go full on winter ninja.

On the day of the march, we set out to go to a rally and Mass at the D.C. Armory with hundreds of our friends who were there for the same reason. After that event, we made our way to the March at the Mall.

Because the Mall is a fairly large expanse of field, the wind was definitely not subtle. The mall looked impressive with a fluffy comforter-sized blanket of snow. So f____ing cold! Removing gloves to take pictures was painful. Even as a winter ninja and silently stomping through the snow, the frigid air out-ninja’d me and silently snuck past my multiple layers.

But let me tell ya—despite the incredibly cold temperature, my group was still but a snowflake in the ocean of people that showed up to this year’s March for Life. Last year, it actively snowed during the March, but it didn’t accumulate. This year, it had already snowed, but the unapologizing wind was terrible.Yeah, the snowy weather on the east coast that week in January deterred people from being able to attend the march, but the turn out was still rather impressive. Sure, it was miserable (because it was so f___ing cold!), but everyone was smiling and enthusiastic!

That’s what I find to be pretty awesome about the March for Life. Yes, it is always tempting for our mainstream media to paint such a thing as “anti-choice” or “anti-women” and that we pro-lifers are a hateful bunch of snowballs, but what never seems to be captured or talked about is this resounding joy and enthusiasm for the pro-life cause. The March is so full of joyful people! It begins to make no common, logical sense why would anyone want to stand and march in so f____ing cold weather for a few hours. We march because we celebrate life and abhor that it is okay (and legal) to kill our most vulnerable of human beings. We do not march out of hate, but out of love for the preciousness of life, of love for both mother and child, and to make a stand against the forces that make it okay to take life away from these vulnerable, innocent human beings.

We are joyful! This genuine, authentic joy lets us be impervious to our trivial sufferings in the so f___ing cold weather because the cause is worth it on a deep, human, and universal level. It's worth fighting for.

This was my second March for Life. The consolations for going included awesome reminders to myself that:

• I am far from being the only one who cares (as evidenced by the hundred thousands also marching alongside me)
• The cause worth it, and any suffering endured because of the cause is worth it too
• Seeing that this will continue because for the most part, the general population of those who march are younger than I am, and that is encouraging
• Life is worth guarding and celebrating

Yeah, the March was only a day out of a week that I spent in Washington, D.C. However, the March was the primary motivation to go in the first place. The other days of the week was spent in prayer, and sightseeing. You can get an idea of what I did by looking at my blog posts from last year: here, here, and here. Pretty similar, although we weren't able to make it out to Arlington Cemetery this year.

Because of all that I suffered through that week of the March, which climaxed with a wintry wrath just before it, my sufferings made that experience all the more awesome. It left me begging a certain question of what should I do next, after the March? How should I respond?

Hmm.
- JD

The Reason Why Our Country Hasn't Fallen Apart

When I was on pilgrimage for the March for Life in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, I had the opportunity to go to the Holocaust Museum. I mean, how fitting since my group had just prayed in front of one of the most active abortion clinics in the country earlier in the morning. Since it was a holiday, they weren’t performing abortions and thus were closed for the day. Whew. But! What better way to continue reflecting on the injustice of the vulnerable and innocent than by refreshing on or learning more about the Nazi’s Holocaust of the Jewish people, others they deemed unfit, and others who stood in their way.

While standing in line waiting to go into the Museum, I noticed a religious brother had gotten in line just behind me. Talking to him was simply irresistible because religious brothers are just awesome! After talking to him for a little while, I learned the basics: the name he goes by is Ignacio, he’s from Texas, he is of the Benedictine order hence he is a Benedictine monk (but not a priest), and he’s been assigned to their monastery in Washington, D.C.

As we were talking to him, I was surprised to learn about his monastery because I didn’t know there was a Benedictine monastery nearby. I mean, I knew of the Franciscan monastery because that is normally part of our itinerary for this pilgrimage for the March for Life. Not only was it nearby, but the Benedictine monastery is also near the Franciscan one. Huh, I would have never guessed…but…cool!

During the course of our conversation, my buddy asked him how he liked being here in D.C. He said he loves it and that it’s an exciting place to be. I’m a Texas boy too and big city life like Washington, D.C. would surely be full of not dull moments.

He said one thing that sticks to my mind more than anything. Brother Ignacio said that it is really important to have a Catholic presence in our nation’s capital because of all the power and influence that reside along the Potomac River. Just by my knowing of Br. Ignacio’s existence pointed to the reality that there must be a greater Catholic presence in D.C. then I had previously thought about up until that point. And what he said made sense regarding such density of authority in the capital. Of course! It is very important to have a Catholic presence there because of all the crazy things we have to deal with as a nation, and a certain handful of people in our capital can make decisions that affect each and every single American's life.

He jokingly said that the reason why our country hasn’t completely fallen apart is because of the Catholic presence of religious brothers and sisters constantly praying for our country and our country’s leaders at the heart of all the political action. We all laughed, and it’s funny because there’s truth to that. I couldn’t help but wonder what other Catholic friaries, monasteries, convents, etc. exist in and around Washington, D.C. Like I said, I knew of the Franciscan Monastery, and also the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration just down the street from them. Also, there’s Catholic University of America with the behemoth of a Catholic church that is the Basilica, which I know many priests and seminarians pass through those halls. And to think…all of them (plus all the others I have yet to find out about) praying for us and for our country...

Sure, the best ways to help our country would definitely come through physical, tangible means. You know, making laws, decisions, etc. meant for the betterment of this country that we love so dear, from sea to shining sea. And then actually following through with those. But as a practicing Catholic, I’ve come to learn and appreciate that just as much as there is a physical reality to things, there is also a spiritual reality. That’s where prayer really helps. Through prayer, we approach God in humility asking for His help because without His help, we wouldn’t get very far. If we carry this interior disposition to truly love and serve others in a genuine way by seeking their ultimate good, that will carry through in our actions and manifest in physical reality.

I'm glad that we've got presence in the capital, and that joining them in prayers for our country is myself and the gray-haired ones who warm the pews on a daily basis when no one else is around during the week. Our prayers will be unceasing. How can I truly help my fellow Americans and serve them?

At the very least, I think it's cool that I randomly had this opportunity to speak to a Benedictine brother for a little bit. Haha! He ended up meeting the rest of my group and pretty much abandoned whatever group he was chaperoning. He hung out with us for a long while after we were done.

Story time with Br. Ignacio.
- JD

Clinic & Museum

Day 4 - Saturday January 27, 2013

2:26PM - January 28, 2013
On an airplane from CLI to DFW

(Ok, so I didn't really type sentences on the plane...I just made a bulleted list of what I did on Day 4)

(which brings me to...)

8:17PM - February 25, 2013
Today was our last day of major events for our Washington, DC pilgrimage.  Us group of guys who stayed at our particular host family home were quite blessed to wake up to homemade muffins of varying flavors.

So, we started out our pilgrimage getting to know each other, then we did a little bit of sightseeing of Catholic locations as well as attending the Vigil Mass for the March for Life.  All of this was to help gel our group together and prepare us to experience the Arlington National Cemetery, participate in the March for Life, and visit various memorials.  Through deepening our spirituality and appreciation for the Catholic faith the past few days of the pilgrimage, we were better able to appreciate life and death through a Catholic lens.  How precious a gift life is and how dignified death can be!

What then, is our response?  How do we take what we've gained from these experiences and put them into action?

Today we prayed in front of an abortion clinic and visited a museum.

Planned Parenthood
First thing on our schedule was to go pray in front of Planned Parenthood in DC.  I heard from one of our group leaders that this particular location usually ranks in the Top 5 for number abortions performed in the United States.  Wow.  That's...crazy to think about... since I'm used to a Planned Parenthood that isn't as busy.

Now, praying in front of abortion clinics is not a strange thing for me.  Before I further recount my experiences here at this Planned Parenthood, I must preface this by saying that while it is arguably cool that Planned Parenthood does provide other women's health services, they are not ashamed of promoting abortion.  And because some (not all) Planned Parenthood clinics do provide abortion services, that attracts folks who stand in front of clinics, praying for all involved: the women, the men, the volunteers, the  clinic workers, the doctors, the unborn babies, etc.  According to the 2011-2012 Annual Report, Planned Parenthood performed 333,964 (surgical) abortions. I can honestly say that I personally participated in two 'saves' in the past year by the simple presence of me and the group I was with...praying in front of abortion clinics: here and here.  Also, not every woman that walks into Planned Parenthood is seeking an abortion.  But, still...we pray for her health and if we're able to offer her alternatives, then we will.

Also, I must further mention that I strive to maintain an environment of peace while on the sidewalk.  40 Days For Life, a prayer campaign for life started by Fightin' Texas Aggies, made it a point that there are things that we should and shouldn't do when maintaining peaceful presence at an abortion clinic, and I definitely try to keep those in mind.  However, in my firsthand experience at the sidewalk, I find it unfortunate that some pro-life groups do not adopt such peaceful practices and exemplify the "anti-abortion protesters" stereotypes that pro-choicers love to criticize.  I assure you, dear reader of this blog post, that I do not yell Bible verses at clients or hold angry/graphic signs.  I am not yet properly equipped to provide clients with material help, so the best I can offer for now is spiritual help through prayer.

With all that said, our band of cold pilgrims approached Planned Parenthood.  However, we decided to stand across the street rather than join the groups of other people already praying directly in front of the clinic's entrance.  But one of our own went to join the group in front of the clinic.  Accompanying us on our pilgrimage was a fellow class of 2009 Fightin' Texas Aggie who works for the Coalition for Life.  I met her when she joined up with us on Day 2.  She's a trained and seasoned sidewalk counselor, so while we were off praying across the street, she was engaging clients as they walk in and out of Planned Parenthood.  Oh, and of course she talked to the volunteer escorts and other people present in front as well.

When we settled in to our spot across the street from Planned Parenthood, I couldn't help but notice this group of Dominican friars standing in front:

But, a part of me just really wanted nuns to be standing in front.  Oh well.

We were across the street praying for a good long while.  Starting out, we prayed all 20 Mysteries of the Rosary, and we finished with a Divine Mercy Chaplet.  I didn't really keep track of time, but I'm sure it was about 1.5-2 hours

In that time, lots of stuff happened.

Something I found to be intriguing were the reactions of people driving or walking by.  Mind you, this was a busy street.  Many double-takes.  Some were confused at the sight of seeing people on either side of the street in front of Planned Parenthood.  But, the reactions that weren't so nice were the ones that stick out to me, even now.  One particular gentleman wasn't particularly gentle in calling us morons, yelling out through his rolled down window.  I also remember the woman who flicked us off while she was waiting for the light to turn green.  Ooh, and then there was the guy who yelled four-letter words at us.  Of course, I understood why they were angry at us.  Perhaps, in their mind, we didn't belong there and that somehow our presence made it unsettling for them.  Whatever the case, I was not shocked by their expressions of anger.  I wasn't really bothered by it. My group just kept praying with little or no reaction to their angry words and gestures.  Someone in my group made the comment later how sometimes we in the pro-life movement are thought of as the intolerant ones.  Sure, some might be.  But in these angry moments, maybe not so much.

Cemetery & March

Day 3 - Friday January 26, 2013

11:32PM
Somewhere in Virginia at Host Family Home

Oh man, today was a really awesome day. Like, I’m not sure that I can contain all the awesomeness in this one blog post. But, “do or do not, there is no try” sayeth the Jedi prophet Yoda.

Arlington National Cemetery

We thankfully had a change of plans for today’s events. Yay! But what that meant was that we didn’t have to wake up at some ridiculous time in the morning (like, 4AM) so that we could catch the Youth Mass for the March for Life. Instead, our little band of pilgrims visited the Arlington National Cemetery.

Now, I’ve seen pictures of it in books, movies, and the Internet. But to experience it first hand was something of an entirely different sort. Walking around the grounds, I’m literally surrounded by the men and women (some kids too) who have laid down their lives in service to our country. It’s truly humbling because it makes me wonder if I’d be willing to do the same or if I would be willing to fight for what’s right—even at the cost of my life. But, here lie the men and women who fought on our behalf so that we may live our blessed American life and freedom. As a Fightin' Texas Aggie, something just resonates within me seeing the graves (maybe due to Texas A&M's military background and history...).

We arrived about 30 minutes before the “changing of the guard” at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. So, we directly headed there. Once we arrived, I got to witness the “changing of the guard” and learn a little bit about the 3rd Infantry Regiment, who are the guard. The precision is ridiculous! I need to look them up and learn more about the guard.

The next place we visited in the Cemetery was President Kennedy’s gravesite. Unbeknownst to us, we witnessed a military funeral going on not too far away while we were visiting the Kennedy gravesite. Actually, that whole experience of watching a part of the funeral service was the most memorable and remarkable experience while at Arlington simply because it really illustrated the reality and purpose of Arlington National Cemetery.


3:53PM - February 23, 2013
Home

Wow, it's crazy to think that it has been almost been a month since my pilgrimage.  Here's why I've been so busy and silent on my blog: A Time of Silence.

Allow me to revisit our witnessing of a live funeral ceremony not too far from JFK's gravesite.  Apart from seeing the funeral going on nearby, I distinctly remember seeing the soldier standing guard at JFK's gravesite.  His simple purpose was to make sure visitors weren't doing anything disrespectful while the funeral was going on.  But, what impacted me the most about him was seeing his face.  Watchful guard, yet deep sorrow.  A very solemn occasion in commemorating a fallen soldier, and it was evident in his face.  The only way I knew how to relate was thinking about all those times I've been to Silver Taps and Muster at Texas A&M where we honor those Aggies who have fallen.

Death is such a reality.  And it is so evident at a cemetery.  Arlington National Cemetery, at that.

March for Life 2013

After visiting the Cemetery, we headed back towards the Metro to ride our way back towards The Mall for the March For Life.

This is my first time attending any March for Life, and I remember hearing from fellow parishioners who went last year that a lot (A LOT) of people go to this March for Life in Washington, DC.  I think last year they reported something like 300,000+ or 400,000+.  But this year is different.  This year marks the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, which is the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States.

We stepped off the Metro and headed topside at a station near The Mall.  When we emerged from the Smithsonian station, I could tell there were already a lot of people here for the March.  A stage was set up on the central-eastern part of The Mall, and everyone was gathering near there.  That's about where the March was going to start.

Here's a map of the route: Route for March for Life 2013.

My group reached the outer fringes of the mass of people and decided to camp in one spot while we quickly ate our sack lunches.  I was just mesmerized at seeing so many people, though I know I wasn't even in the middle of everyone.  Despite being near freezing temperatures and the threat of snow, many were gathered and gathering.

What I found interesting about the types of people that I could see gathering for the March are how young they are and how joyful everyone is!  It was cool looking around and seeing where everyone was from.  A lot of groups present had signs or banners saying where they're from and people came from all over.  My group, however, had no distinguishing signage to let people know we traversed from Texas.  Not gonna lie, there were a ton of Catholic groups present.  But I did notice in the far off distance, Seculars for Life.  Also, I also noticed this group too:

Though I didn't notice many obvious banners representing non-Catholic groups, I know that we Catholics are not alone in the pro-life movement.  The right to life is universal, and I find it encouraging to see other non-Catholic groups have fervor in the pro-life cause.

We progressively moved our group towards the starting location for the March.  This made it difficult to let guys from my group know where we were at because some of them had to stay behind in the Metro to take care of some Metro ticket issues.  And we were still eating while moving.  Really cold, but not soggy, PB&J sandwich and really cold Cheetos tasted remarkably good.  I guess I was really hungry.  In the cold.

Around noon, the March for Life started.  It was around that time that it started to snow a little.  We moved rather slowly because a massive group of people moving through streets in Washington, DC is...well...slow, lol.

As we were marching (but not in the marching band sense, though I would be the type of guy to make that joke), I kept looking around seeing who was also there and kept noticing how the snow progressively got worse.  Yes, lateral slides were necessary at times.

I remember passing by some people on the street blasting a sung version of the Divine Mercy Chaplet which was cool.  How can we show mercy to others (women and their babies) if we don't know of God's mercy, right?  And my group also joined in on reciting parts of the chaplet.  We even busted out in singing the Salve Regina and got some other groups around us to kind of join in.

Continuing on the march, I also saw cool things like bands playing, people singing, guys dressed up as the Avengers (?!), and EWTN stationed in one place since they were broadcasting the March for Life live.

But at the same time, I saw some weird things like a video display that showed graphic images of aborted babies.  :-/   I know the reality of different abortion methods and have seen such images in the past, but I thought it was inappropriate in this context.  Well-intentioned to spread the pro-life message, I'm sure, but probably not the best way to communicate our love of life in public and in front of lots of children.

Another weird thing I saw was another video display spreading pro-life messages but at the same time slamming the Catholic Church.  As if we, the Catholic Church, were to blame for the inactions and injustices towards unborn and women... which perhaps, may be true in isolated cases, but not reflective of the actual actions of many in the Catholic pro-life movement.

Oddly, I didn't see any counter-protestors or pro-choicers letting their voices be heard along the march route.  If they were there (which I'm sure some were), I didn't see them.

Monastery & Mass

Day 2 - Thursday January 24, 2013

Click here for Day 1.

1:16AM (Fri)

Somewhere In Virginia at Host Family Home

I didn’t really expect to wake up last night at 4AM in the morning to the feeling of sheer cold.  I was sleeping in a room in the basement of our host family's home.  Apparently the heater got turned off at some point and t-shirt and shorts were a terrible idea, even with my supposedly "cold weather" sleeping bag.  I toughed it out though, and even went ahead and put on my Under Armour thermals because…well…I have them.  Builds character and preparation.

6:30AM rolls around, and being up and about was refreshing because it got my body moving to warm up a little.  The cool thing about waking up this morning despite overcoming the lack of heat was to see the aftermath of the previous nights’ snow fall.  I looked out the window, and it was beautiful to see a healthy blanket of snow cover the ground.

Our host family's backyard!

After a quick breakfast, my group at that particular host family's home headed out to the Metro station.  I spent nearly an hour and a half outside of the Metro station because we waited for the rest of our group to arrive from their respective host families’ houses. I definitely appreciated the functioning use of the main zipper on my jacket.  And gloves.  And scarf.  And UA thermals. And beanie. And second jacket. And hoodie.  It was cold.

Departure

Day 1 - Wednesday January 23, 2013

~9:00AM
US Airways from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Charlotte, NC

I don’t know what it is, but every time I am about to take vacation from work, the days leading up to my vacation are usually pretty stressful.  Last time, I had to make an hour drive to work to only stay for 15 minutes, a wedding to go to, and a bunch other little things.  No time to pack before a week-long trip.

This time?  Crazy hectic, but in a different way.   I’ve been having to pull overtime both at my day job and my volunteer job the past few days.  And so, getting home at 11:30PM last night without having packed for a 6:30AM meeting time at the airport having only a few hours of sleep was definitely a challenge.  But I like challenges >:-].  And surprisingly, I’m not doing that bad in terms of tiredness! 

I guess I’m just so excited!

Actually, everyone I’m with is pretty excited.  You can’t tell that we had to meet up really early this morning!

We’re leaving today to go on a pilgrimage to Washington D.C. to see the sights, to pray, to have fun, to hang out, and …our primary purpose is to participate in the March for Life this Friday.  Looking at our itinerary, it looks like this will be a pretty prayerful and moving experience.  So yeah, it’ll be a spiritual journey as we make a stand for life.

I beg the questions: do people care enough about the pro-life movement to gather together and gain a sense of common cause and purpose in the fight for human dignity, starting in the womb?  Are a lot of people passionate about this?  Is this worthy of our time? If 60,000 young adult Christians can gather together to make a stand against human slavery and trafficking, who will and how many will show up to make a stand against ending lives in the womb?

Last year, I really wanted to blog about how the March for Life in Washington D.C. didn’t even get any main media coverage despite hundreds of thousands of people in attendance.  I think only a local newspaper mentioned something about how “pro-lifers caused traffic on streets of DC.”  This year, I hope to capture the sights and events through blog and pictures during our trip.  And I’m armed with my laptop, camera, and iPhone.  Challenge accepted.

1:40AM (Thurs)

Somewhere In Virginia at Host Family Home

The original plan was for us to stay at a Knights of Columbus hall, but that fell through a few weeks ago, so we are blessed and fortunate enough to have some host families willing to let us stay in their homes.  One of the perks of being a chaperone is that sometimes you get an actual bed and/or room, and I definitely have those things.  But, in keeping with the pilgrimage spirit of this trip, I will forego the bed and use my sleeping bag on the floor.

I guess I’ve been more occupied with thinking about traveling to the East Coast without really thinking too much about what I’m going to be doing here.  I mean, our itinerary the next few days is going to be pretty action-packed but it hasn’t hit me of all the things that we’re going to be doing.

Some stories since last blog update.

Our leader had to stay with one of group members because they lacked proper identification at the airport and thus had to wait for parents to take care of that.  In the process of that delay, our leader was reassigned flights and seats.  And on one of his flights today, a priest happenchance’d to sit right next to our leader.  Undoubtedly, one does not simply sit next to a Catholic priest on a flight and not talk about Catholic things.

What’s really cool about being a traveling Catholic is that it is totally legit and cool to ask a priest for Confession, even at an airport.  The priest was totally willing to give that Sacrament despite the awkward circumstance (because this is normally done in a confessional).  The other really cool story was that our leader totally met Abby Johnson at the airport.  She’s a very powerful voice in the pro-life movement since she was a former director of a Planned Parenthood who had a conversion after witnessing an ultrasound-guided abortion.  Now, she’s jumpstarted a new outreach program, And Then There Were None, for abortion clinic workers who want to get out of the abortion industry.  And oh, she’s a Fightin’ Texas Aggie.  And now Catholic. WHOOP! AMEN!

Baby djembe and ukulele -- tools of epic music

Rewinding a bit, our group arrived at a local Catholic church to gather ourselves and unwind, eat dinner, and hang out.  We spent the evening playing get-to-know-you games, going over rules and procedures, eating a scrumptious lasagna and salad dinner, and then spent time in prayer and worship...and of course, rules and logistics.

This has been an exhausting day, and it’s probably a really dumb decision for me to be blogging at this hour, especially since I have to be up in a few hours.  But, hey!  I’m willing to sacrifice my comforts.  After all, this is a pilgrimage.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day visiting a monastery and attending the March For Life Vigil Mass.  Word on the pew is that both are pretty epic.

-JD